The 2013 MLG Pro Circuit Winter Championship is held in Dallas, Texas, from March 15–17. It is the first championship event in the 2013 MLG Pro Circuit. The event is also the first major StarCraft 2: Heart of The Swarm competition after the release of the new expansion. The casters for the event are: Day(9), DjWHEAT, Husky, TotalBiscuit, iNcontroL, Axslav, and Axeltoss with special floor reporter Anna Prosser Robinson. All 32 players for the tournament qualified through a 64 man bracket, ordered by region and seeded based upon their results in 2012. Unlike in previous MLG events there was also no open bracket.

Format

Single-elimination bracket

Best-of-5; 3rd place: Best-of-3; Finals: Best-of-7

Showdowns

56 of the world’s best StarCraft II players will compete in 1 Showdown Match each, playing StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm before it is released to the public on March 12. The 28 winners will receive placement at the Winter Championship where they will compete with Life, Leenock, Flash and Bomber. See Showdowns